xp pro not booting after changes to boot.ini

Anonymous

The problem is my C: partition has Windows 7

D: Has XP Pro

These should be seen as partition 1 and 2 resp. right?

I wanted XP pro to boot first as the default partition.

A few days ago I made a change to the boot.ini file. But since then XP Pro has not been booting at all.

I wanted XP Pro to boot first as the default partition.

Since XP Pro and my D: drive have not been booting, I accessed the boot.ini file through the C: partition, that is Windows 7 and I changed the order (i.e. partition no.) in the boot.ini file and saved it to the necessary location, i.e. D:/WINDOWS/pss/

through my working C: drive, i.e. the Windows 7 partition, but it is still not working because apparently even though I am saving it here, the actual values and partition paths are not actually being changed on the system. I confirmed this by going into the CMD shell switching to D: and running the command D:>bootcfg.

Apparently no matter what values I am saving in the boot.ini file which I am saving as a text file or "All files" in D:/WINDOWS/pss/ it is not actually changing in the system because whenever I run the bootfg command the values are remaining just the same and not being able to be changed, because apparently it is not being saved in XP Pro and the D: partition. No matter what I do and what values I put into the boot.ini file accessed through the windows 7 partition, the values which bootcfg returns to me are always the same and it refuses to change the path name or anything else. Regardless of what commands I put into bootcfg itself also.

These are the values that bootcfg is giving me:

default:multi(0)disk(0)rdisk(0)partition(1)\WINDOWS

Boot entries:

Boot entry ID: 1

OS friendly Name: MS Windows XP Professional

Path: multi(0)disk(0)rdisk(0)partition(1)\WINDOWS

OS Load options: /NOEXECUTE=OPTIN/FASTDETECT /USEPMTIMER

My XP Pro partition is just not booting and it is my primary partition and has all my work. It is imperative that it boots.

My Windows CD is also not booting because apparently my DVD drive is not working properly, I had the anti malware program threatfire (threatfire.com) installed on my D:Windows XP drive but have uninstalled just it in case it was blocking my changes to the system.

On C:Win7 I set the default OS option in the advanced tab to Win7 and on the D:XP Pro to XP Pro , when it was booting and working. Now I can only access my D:XP Pro files thru the C:Win7 drive. But XP just isnt booting. What shd I do? Thks.

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Answer accepted by question author

Anonymous

I do have a windows CD handy but my CD/DVD drive is not reading it and not working properly.

Seems like your initial post stated your cd/dvd isn't working.

With all due respect, you're gonna keep on with these hap hazard fixes and your computer isn't going to boot at all. I am going to try to help you one more time. Please follow closely.

Start your computer by loading Windows 7. Click HERE and download EasyBCD. Install the the software in the trial version. After the installation has completed open EasyBCD. You will see an interface like the image below. Click on Add a new entry.

A new screen will appear as in the image below. Use the drop down menu to select Windows NT/2k/XP/2k3 as shown below. Type the name of the operating system in the field below. Of course this will be Windows Xp (you can add Home or Pro to the name if you want). Now make sure there is a check mark in the box to "Automatically detect correct drive". Once you have completed those steps click "Add Entry". That's it!! You're done. If all went well, and if you followed these instructions carefully it will have, you now have a dual boot system.

You can now begin working on your cd/dvd issue.

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43 additional answers

Anonymous

2012-07-12T23:20:42+00:00

Could it be some BIOS software that controls how or when the drive works?

Nilan,

Please specify if there was any additional custom software that came with your pc.

-Alex

Dont know. But then how come it was working before? And is playing only audio cds now? Is it a lens/hardware problem?

When I switch on the lap it only says "hp" and- press F10 to enter BIOS menu. Nothing else, no bios version etc.

the only additional software that came with the lap that had to be installed was the Intervideo Win DVD Creator 2. is that ok?
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Anonymous

2012-07-12T23:08:54+00:00

Having you run DevFilter had a two-fold purpose. First, it ensured your drive is being detected. Second, it provided the information about filters which are often the issue when dealing with a cd/dvd rom that will not read disc.

Please answer the questions asked by Daavee above. Additionally, when in Windows does the drive read the disc?

As stated to Daavee when in windows 7 or XP Pro, the drive is currently reading Only Audio CDs. No DVDs at all - movie, video or software. Thats all. Are the filters ok?
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Anonymous

2012-07-12T23:04:17+00:00

My Windows CD is also not booting because apparently my DVD drive is not working properly

To say that something "is not working properly" is kind of vague. What does that mean? Does it make loud noises? Is the tray stuck? Is it turned off? Does it work when in Windows only? Are you merely having problems booting off a CD or DVD?

It is only playing audio CDs, and sometimes even that is not being detected by wmp, thats all. It is not playing any DVDs at all - movie, video or software. It is not booting any OS or software from the DVD at all. There is no other problem at all. Thks.
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Anonymous

2012-07-12T19:45:57+00:00

It could be most anything at this point. As correctly pointed out by Daavee we know nothing about what it is or is not doing. To say the drive isn't working properly is ambiguous at best.
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